No more deep space whine

As everyone knows, there are stages in the recovery process of a broken relationship. There's grief and anger and other stages that usually lead to overeating or picking up a Jane Austen novel.

It appears the folks with the Oklahoma Space Development Authority may be in the final stage of recovering from a broken relationship: moving on.

In a feature story that ran in The Oklahoman on Jan. 17 headlined "No spaceships at Oklahoma's spaceport but they are welcome," one member of the authority said what any grievance counselor would love to hear when tending to a broken heart.

Rocketplane officials convinced the state to hand over $18 million in tax credits to help start the business and launch a spaceship from Burns Flat. But no ship was ever built.

There were promises made and promises broken. Goals set and goals missed.

But through all of Rocketplane's troubles, members of the authority remained positive. They tried to stay upbeat, publicly stating that they remained confident Rocketplane would launch from the Oklahoma soil.

That never happened, as the company finally closed its Oklahoma City office and fled the state in 2009. But we're glad those who helped build the Burns Flat spaceport are ready to get on with their lives and find that certain someone.